Cabo Verde has reported almost no harvests for the 2017-18 agricultural season because of a severe drought. According to the Cadre harmonisé analysis, some 28 000 people (5.3%) are currently facing food insecurity. Following a call for assistance from the Cabo Verde government, several partners mobilised additional support to address the crisis. Read more
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At COP23, the World Bank organised a discussion, which was also transmitted on Facebook live, about the problem of coastal erosion and flooding in West Africa. The World Bank has set up the West Africa Coastal Areas Programme (WACA) to address the problem. These issues severely affect coastal and island countries from Mauritania to Gabon. Read on

According to the 2016 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), governance in Africa has overall slightly improved over the past decade but the security situation has clearly become worse: two out of three Africans live in a country where safety and the rule of law deteriorated over the past ten years. This is particularly the case in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Chad. Overall, the ECOWAS area is the second best-performing African region, after southern Africa, having recorded the largest increase in its average score (52.4) for overall governance. Read on

Despite the huge progress, Africa remains the least-connected continent. Africa’s broadband household penetration accounted for 15.4% in 2015, far behind the worldwide average of 52.3% (Asia and the Pacific - 46.4%; the Americas - 64.4%; and Europe - 84%). When it comes to individual Internet usage, Nigeria was the best-performing West African country in 2015, with almost one out of two Nigerians connected. Read on

The World Bank has published the 2015 rankings in its Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report for Africa. Revised annually, the CPIA score evaluates, on a scale of 1 to 6, the capacity of a country's policies and institutions to support sustainable growth and poverty reduction. With Cape Verde and Senegal, West Africa is home to the second and third best scores in the continental ranking, after Rwanda. Read on

The peaceful democratic transition on the Cape Verdean islands is yet another positive example of the Island’s mature democracy. The centre-right Movement for Democracy (MpD), Cape Verde’s main opposition party, led by José Correia e Silva, mayor of the capital city Praia, gained an absolute majority in the 20 March parliamentary elections (53.5% of votes, 38 seats). Read on